David Ortiz

The Boston Red Sox have started their 2013 season off in an impressive fashion, taking three out of four games on the road against the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays. They will soon get even stronger, as the impending returns of injured players Stephen Drew and David Ortiz will shake up the roster.

I made it to Opening Day.

This year, Opening Day meant more than most years, since I was the one that almost went on the DL. Instead, I stood on the field Monday in Milwaukee, looking at the steel roof above the green grass and loving that it was once again baseball season. It was an amazing feeling, talking with so many media friends and having everyone from Doug Melvin to Ryan Braun pausing to ask how I was feeling. 

By this time next week, MLB will have thrown their first pitch. Before that, they'll pitch several players on to the DL. Injuries often become the deciding factor in many of those last-minute roster decisions. A player may be healthy now, but might have missed opportunities to impress the coaching staff earlier in the spring due to even minor injuries.

After losing 93 games and making a mockery of themselves in the process last season, the Boston Red Sox have their eyes on smooth sailing and a return to form in 2013.

Spring training is great. It’s a relaxing, yet entertaining brand of baseball reminiscent of the 1970s and ‘80s. However, spring training obviously has a greater purpose besides the leisurely entertainment we all enjoy.

These six weeks give coaches and fans an idea of the strength of their teams and, in turn, a preview of what the coming season will hold. With the Red Sox just a few short weeks away from heading up north, it’s time to examine just how prepared they are for the upcoming season. 

Missing “valuable” time will have another meaning for David Ortiz once the season begins in a couple of weeks.

Over the winter, Ortiz signed a two-year, $26 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. Ortiz is expected to make a base salary of $14 million in the upcoming season and $11 million the following year. But that all could change due to a clause in the deal he recently inked.

With spring training underway for the Boston Red Sox, the regular season will be here before fans know it. But despite the promise of a new year, Boston should be concerned about the health of designated hitter David Ortiz.

New Red Sox manager John Farrell has his work cut out for him as he tries to pick up the pieces from last year's horrendous showing under Bobby Valentine. He's been tasked with patching up the leaking holes that led to the Red Sox' worst season in nearly 50 years—and then some.

If he can take anything away from his predecessor, it's a long list of don'ts.

When thinking about all of the things Farrell should approach differently this year than Valentine, the short answer is everything. But here are five crucial lessons to be learned for a guaranteed turnaround in 2013.

If you're a fantasy player, you're probably well aware that the Boston Red Sox's David Ortiz is one of the only players in the game with no positional eligibility: he can only play designated hitter at a utility slot.

He's one of the few DHs so designated: others are designated third basemen (Edwin Encarnacion, Chris Davis), outfielders (Raul Ibanez, Kendrys Morales) or even catchers (Jesus Montero).

At 36 years of age, David Ortiz is having the type of season that rivals his 2005, 2006 and 2007 seasons, at ages 29, 30 and 31 respectively.

In each of those seasons, Ortiz finished second, third and fourth in the American League MVP voting consecutively.

This season, he is absolutely raking for the Boston Red Sox. I must eat crow, I wanted him out of town during the winter and I was wrong.